A crutch is a figure of speech that describes something that is used as a surrogate or substitute for a more ideal solution or approach, as in the use of medical crutches as an assistance device for walking. The term also implies a degree of habitual laziness.

"A debugger is a crutch for programmers too lazy to add proper logging to their applications."

"Using pre-made pancake mix instead of making it from scratch is a crutch."